Balenciaga has tapped Bella Swan as the face of an as-yet-unnamed fragrance launching this fall. Well, Nic, what do you have to say for yourself?

“Kristen embodies the modernity of the new Balenciaga fragrance with her unique sensibility and intelligence,” the designer told WWD. “From her early appearance in Panic Room to her independent choice of Welcome to the Rileys, I’ve always sensed her progressive character. In 2006, I invited her to appear in a project shot by Bruce Weber. Since then, I’ve always wished to collaborate with her further, knowing that she shares the radical spirit of Balenciaga.”

Erright…Meanwhile, who the hell knew Nicolas Ghesquière was such a big Kristen Stewart movie buff? [WWD]

The caveat that broke the camel’s back was Jacobs’ insistence on taking his Louis Vuitton team with him to Dior, leaving Vuitton — LVMH’s cash cow — without a heel to stand on. To make matters worse, Arnault had wanted Céline‘s Phoebe Philo to replace Marc at Vuitton should he move to Dior, but Philo is happy where she is — outfitting Kanye West in billowy blouses.

So with Jacobs more or less off the table, LVMH has reportedly approached Alexander Wang, Jason Wu and Jil Sander‘s Raf Simons; though out of the three Simons would seem the most likely choice, that is unless Dior plans on eschewing breathtaking gowns and impeccably-crafted ladysuits for sweatpants and cocktail dresses.

Then there is Givenchy‘s Riccardo Tisci, whose name has been bandied about since Gallianogate got into full swing. But he — along with Lanvin‘s Alber Elbaz, Alexander McQueen‘s Sarah Burton and Balenciaga‘s Nicolas Ghesquière – has turned down the Dior deal, citing brand loyalty.

So the question still remains — and frankly, the question is getting really tiresome — who will take the reins at Christian Dior? However, by the time someone is announced, the question might be, who the hell cares? [WWD]

Photo: NYT

According to Style File: “The Traina sisters reportedly jumped when they heard the first crack, others found themselves flat on the floor after the benches, supporting the likes of Mario Testino, Catherine Deneuve, Carine Roitfeld, and Style.com’s Nicole Phelps, broke.”

Everyone stood their ground, however — note Vogue‘s Hamish Bowles, Anna Wintour and Grace Coddington dutifully in the front row — and the reaction was favorable with Anna Dello Russo remarking via Twitter that it was an “amazing” show and likening the experience to church.

Amen, fashion. [Style File]

Photo: NYT

Dior has been without a creative director since that little incident with John Galliano — you know, the anti-Semitism and the firing and the rehab and the court case — since March.

Arnault, chairman of LVMH — which also owns Marc Jacobs International — had initially planned on hiring Jacobs for Dior back in the 90s, but that idea was vetoed by Dior’s then president Francois Baufume. Instead, Galliano was hired from Givenchy to Dior and Jacobs signed on as Vuitton’s artistic director in 1997.

“Had I hired Marc Jacobs for Dior and John Galliano for Louis Vuitton, it would not have worked as well for both brands, even though both designers are geniuses of their own,” Arnault told WWD in 2003.

Meetings are scheduled for this week in Paris between Dior and Marc Jacobs’ legal representatives while the designer prepares for New York Fashion Week. Robert Duffy, Jacobs’ longtime business partner, is also reported to be integral to the deal, despite currently having legal troubles of his own.

Should Jacobs move to Dior, Phoebe Philo is said to be on tap to replace him at Louis Vuitton, while maintaining her current role at Céline.

Since March, Dior has approached a number of designers to replace Galliano including Lanvin‘s Alber Elbaz, Balenciaga‘s Nicolas Ghesquière, Alexander McQueen‘s Sarah Burton, Haider Ackermann and Hedi Slimane. Elbaz, Ghesquière and Burton have allegedly withdrawn themselves from the running due to their strong personal commitments to their respective brands, while talks with Ackermann and Slimane proved fruitless.

Then, of course, there is Givenchy’s Riccardo Tisci whose name has been bandied about as frontrunner for months now and who is a favorite of Delphine Arnault, deputy managing director at Dior. Where Tisci stands in all this is uncertain, but do you think Marc Jacobs is what Christian Dior needs right now? [WWD]

- Vogue lopped off a few of Lila Grace Moss (Kate Moss‘ daughter)’s fingers in their September issue in a case of bad and badly observed Photoshop. I guess Anna is human after all. What a day of disappointments. [Styleite]

- In other Brit Kate news, Kate Winslet has joined forces with fellow Oscar winners, Emma Thompson and Rachel Weisz to form the “British Anti-Cosmetic Surgery League,” an informal group of acting superheroines fighting against Hollywood’s pressure to go under the knife. In other news, Demi Moore has formed the “Legion of the Evil and Ageless.”  [Telegraph]

“It’s important to be able to show things in movement,” Balenciaga creavtive director Nicolas Ghesquière said. “It’s almost like a daily magazine now: It has to be really alive. Like everyone, we want to have a good amount of traffic.”

And a good amount traffic they shall receive with features like short films produced by famous photographers, a heritage section with vintage photos of starlets such as Marlene Dietrich and Ingrid Bergman wearing the brand and a full-fledged e-commerce section shipping to France, the U.K. and United States.

Look for the new Balenciaga site launching this week. Photos from WWD.com.

Ghesquière will also release behind the scenes footage of the shoot for the first time, which will feature Steven Meisel snapping away at working girls Julia Nobis and Liisa Winkler, among others, in a studio in New York and a church in Harlem.   [WWD]

Along with its commercial peak, fashion shows have also reached their creative peaks – moving, visceral, dramatic productions that have elevated them into an art form. Alexander McQueen emerged as the true master of the genre, blending the disparate elements of entertainment and ideology while creating beautiful works of clothing that could stand on their own without the hype and hoopla with which he was so famously associated.

Below is a list of the 10 fashion shows that stand as the greatest achievements of the last decade, based on their technicality and theatricality, their influence on fashion and of course, the clothes themselves.

1. Alexander McQueen – “Widows of Culloden” (Fall 2006) Perhaps McQueen’s greatest show, the clothes were utterly sublime but the final hologram of Kate Moss floating ethereally above the audience is a moment in which legends are created.

1. Alexander McQueen – “Widows of Culloden” (Fall 2006)

2. Hussein Chalayan – Spring 2007 The breathtaking future of fashion -- and over 100 years of its history -- were presented in six dresses outfitted with tiny computers, literally giving them a life of their own . Equal parts creepy and brilliant but completely unforgettable.

2. Hussein Chalayan – Spring 2007

3. Christian Dior - Spring 2007 Haute Couture John Galliano's reputation as a showman and expertise as a couturier helped redefine Christian Dior for a new generation. This poetically beautiful collection, however, stands head and origami-detailed shoulders above as the  greatest couture show of the last decade.

3. Christian Dior - Spring 2007 Haute Couture

4. Balenciaga – Fall 2006 Nicolas Ghesquière is lucky enough to have the rich Balenciaga archives, of which he has made great use over the years.  With this collection, he made the past and the house his own by reimagining and redefining the female silhouette, just as Cristobol Balenciaga had done decades earlier.

4. Balenciaga – Fall 2006

5. Alexander McQueen - "It's Only a Game" (Spring 2005) McQueen's "Game" was both fun and provocative, taking some of his most striking and whimsical designs (the king as a football player, a knight in a dress with a built-in pony-hair ponytail) and presenting them in a high-concept cultural chess game between East and West.

5. Alexander McQueen - "It's Only a Game" (Spring 2005)

6. Viktor & Rolf - Fall 2001 Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren love to put on a show, and this was one of their first shows to introduce them not only as master showmen but master craftsmen. Workig in a palette of all black, the design duo decided to take it one step further by covering their models -- and themselves -- in all black. If getting away with black face doesn't qualify you as a greatest fashion show, nothing will.

6. Viktor & Rolf - Fall 2001

7. Chanel - Spring 2010 Haute Couture Karl Lagerfeld rarely makes a false move -- I mean, no one's perfect -- but he hit every step perfectly with this couture show. Aside from being brilliantly conceived -- the metallic elements flowing through were an especially inspired touch -- the Kaiser actually seemed to be having fun, while remaining true to the most prestigious fashion house in the world.

7. Chanel - Spring 2010 Haute Couture

8. Tom Ford - Spring 2011 How fitting that one of the driving forces behind the rise of the fashion show to public spectacle would precipitate its return to the more personal atmosphere of the salon. Tom Ford's decision to debut his first womenswear show in six years free from the tents and the all-seeing eye of the blogosphere is slowly inspiring other designers who might also prefer their collections with a hint of privacy and control. However, it is still too early to know exactly how influential this trend will be.

8. Tom Ford - Spring 2011

9. Marc Jacobs - Spring 2008 Though most famous -- or infamous -- for starting a whopping two hours late (gotta keep the audience on their toes), Jacobs's ditzy, disheveled backwards romp through a woman's dressing routine proved to be worth the wait and included his most fun and irreverent designs -- and accessories -- to date.

9. Marc Jacobs - Spring 2008

10. Prada - Spring 2011 The now ubiquitous Spring 2011 collection saw Miuccia Prada in bold and Technicolor top form. Not only her best collection in seasons, those Baroque monkeys and Josephine Baker homages cemented Prada's reputation as one of the most influential houses in the world and one of the most sought-after brands for women.

10. Prada - Spring 2011

1. Riccardo Tisci of Givenchy

2. Olivier Theyskens of Theory

3. Lazaro Hernandez of Proenza Schouler

Though Jack looks super fun as he drunkenly tongues Thakoon (#10)

4. Nicolas Ghesquière of Balenciaga

5. Olivier Rousteing of Balmain

6. Joseph Altuzarra of Altuzarra

7. Thom Brown of Thom Browne/Moncler Gamme Bleu

8. Nicola Formichetti of Mugler

Nicola Formichetti, YEAH! Terry Richardson...not so much

9. Prabal Gurung (of Prabal Gurung)

10. Thakoon Panichgul of Thakoon

Humpable Hall of Fame: Tom Ford

and

Marc Jacobs

Though Jack looks super fun as he drunkenly tongues Thakoon (#10)

Nicole Formichetti, YEAH! Terry Richardson...not so much

Prabal

Step 1: Dilute your brand far past the point of recognition and/or respectability, i.e. Pierre Cardin toilets, strollers and heating units.

Step 2: Stage a “rambling” runway show during Paris Fashion Week that no top editors or buyers bother to show up for.

Step 3: Pull a wildly exorbitant asking price tag seemingly out of nowhere then justify it thusly:

“Asked how he came up with the billion-euro valuation, he takes out an old greeting card and, scribbling, says, ‘If I ask €10 million per product, which is nothing at all, per country, multiplied by 1,000, that makes one, two, three….’ Dismissing the profusion of zeroes, he concludes, ‘One thousand products, 100 countries, that’s how it calculates. It’s nothing.’”

Easy, peasy, right? Using a similar method, I valued my company, Werqing Gurl Ltd., at $450 million because that’s asking roughly $100 million for every second it’s been in existence. [WSJ]

- Australian retailers are now charging shoppers as much as $50 to try on clothes in an effort to cut back on people buying discounted fashions online after perfecting the fit in-store. The fee is refundable, however, should patrons decide to buy the article of clothing. Personally, I never try on clothes, mostly because I’m lazy. If I get home and something is too big I’ll call it “oversized” and if it’s too small, I call it an “aspirational piece.” I also love finding reasons to not eat, which I call “going on a diet.” [Daily Mail]

- Riccardo Tisci is still the front-runner to replace John Galliano at Dior, but his name is being bandied about with the likes of Olivier Theyskens, Tom Ford, Hedi Slimane, Nicolas Ghesquière, Alber Elbaz, Sarah Burton, Haider Ackermann and Prabal Gurung. Tisci has reportedly already sketched out his vision for the brand and has a supporter in Delphine Arnault, Bernard’s daughter and Dior’s deputy managing director. However, Bernard Arnault‘s eyeing the Royal Wedding, hoping to align Dior with the young couple; so if Burton catches Kate Middleton‘s sartorial bouquet she could be next on the list. The atelier is nevertheless hard at work on their upcoming cruise collection and a couture collection for July. [WWD]

- Grace Coddington‘s 70th birthday was a who’s who of fashion royalty, with a guest list including Anna Wintour, Marc Jacobs, Naomi Campbell, Oscar de la Renta, Calvin Klein, Annie Leibovitz,  Helmut Lang, André Leon Talley, Liya Kebede, Karen Elson, Stefano Pilati, Hamish Bowles, Karlie Kloss, Nicolas Ghesquière, Bruce Weber, Patrick Demarchelier, Vera Wang, Edward Enninful, Riccardo Tisci, Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez from Proenza Schouler and Laura and Kate Mulleavy from Rodarte. Twas clearly a magical night, as evidenced by this photo of Anna having what appears to be…a good time:

There but for the Grace of Coddington go I. [Styleite]

- Another image has “leaked” from Beyoncé‘s video shoot — either B has awful security or we’re just the pawns in her little chess game of pop supremacy…either way I couldn’t care less because she’s wearing Alexander McQueen. [Red Carpet Fashion Awards]

On her tenure at Vogue Paris:

It took a little time, because when I came to Vogue ten years ago, it was not the Vogue it is today. Joan Juliet Buck, who I was working for as a freelancer, was more a journalist editor than a fashion editor, so it was focused more on the text and writers and not so much on fashion. And me, I come with all my fashion ideas, but it was very difficult at the beginning, because a lot of photographers, it’s easy to forget, didn’t want to work for the magazine…Each time we try to be better and better, and it takes almost ten years to be a team, and now I think the best team is there. It’s very sad to leave your family after ten years…But I think the times are changing, too. I said to Jonathan [Newhouse, chairman of Condé Nast International], when I can make it ten, it will be great for me. And I think in the last [period] that maybe I got less freedom than I got before, so I think it was just the right time for me to leave, because I want to enjoy and do everything that I want to do. And Jonathan was an amazing boss, because he let me do such crazy things. To put a black transsexual with a beard and high heels on the cover? I don’t think a lot of presidents will let you do that. I think it was fun to look at French Vogue. Each month was a new happening. But I think now they want to change a bit. Even the French president [Xavier Romatet, of Condé Nast France] now wants something a bit [pauses]…sweeter I would say, and if I cannot have a lot of fun, then I prefer to do something else.

…I think the French president—maybe not Jonathan—but the French president thinks he wants something more [pauses]…I won’t say I’m too provocative; it’s my way of expressing myself, you know. They won’t change everything, because when something has been so [successful], it would be stupid to change it. Maybe they want [things] a bit more easy for everyone. It’s true, I’m always pushing. I like that. I’ve always been provocative, but what I’m going to do next is a new way of provocation. I did for many years porno chic. I was the queen of porno chic. And I will do something totally different now.

On being “fired” because of the Tom Ford issue:

No, that’s wrong…I think it was a controversial issue, but they were all controversial issues. I told you, at the end of this decade, I could see that the new president in France wanted to change the direction of the magazine. I’m sure the Tom Ford issue is not the way they’re heading in the next few years, but it was not because of the Tom Ford issue. I was not fired, because if I was fired, it would not be a very nice ending. It was a discussion between Jonathan and myself, and he never fired me…I know I did a good job. I know the March issue is a record in terms of advertising. So I’m not leaving a sad magazine, an empty magazine. I’m leaving a magazine that has an epic stop. I’m very happy about that…I think it’s sad because when I did this Tom Ford issue…we put a lot of little girls with makeup, a lot of jewelry. It was for Christmas and it’s nothing compared to what Guy Bourdin did 20 years ago or what I saw in all the magazines ten years ago…but when you put kids, you always know it’s going to be a problem. There was no nudity, it was always a T-shirt under the evening dress, but you know, people see what they want…These are the risques du métier.

On the “Tom Ford” issue:

I’m not going to work with Tom. That was ten years ago. If I look back at my CV, when I was freelance, I worked mostly ten years with Tom Ford at Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent. And after [that] I stopped and it was ten years at French Vogue. Now it’s a new decade and I don’t want to be doing what I was doing ten years ago. Of course, Tom is my friend and if he asks me what I think, I will answer. But I will not go and stay one week before the show and work with him.

On modeling in Tom’s next show:

He didn’t ask me.

On the Balenciaga controversy:

Oh, there are a lot of designers I admire. There’s a long list. In the young generation, of course I love Nicolas Ghesquière. There were these problems with Balenciaga last season, but I know him since the beginning. I was one of the biggest supporters of Nicolas, and I just saw him for a cup of tea and now everything is fine again between Nicolas and me.

…Sometimes people like to put oil on the fire, to make something bigger, and afterwards with blogs and the Internet, things [get out of] proportion. But now it’s gone back like before and I’m very happy because I think he’s full of talent.

On her relationship with Emmanuelle Alt:

It’s true that we are in not in the best relations, [but] I don’t want to talk about it, to be honest.

On the public’s perception of her:

People sometimes think I’m very cold, but I’m not. I’m a very shy person. When people know me, I’m not cold; I’m quite a nice person. It’s difficult as the editor of a magazine to be totally yourself because you’re a bit frightened. Now I think I go back where I was ten years ago, so I get younger, which is always good. Younger with dreams and younger with energy. Younger with risk, because now it will be my own risk; it won’t be Vogue’s risk. Always I will be a risky woman. I will keep this legend.

Link Love: Style.com

Conceived by the Chairman of the Institute’s Board of Directors, Oscar de la Renta and curated by Vogue‘s own Hamish Bowles, Balenciaga: Spanish Master is the the first collection “to consider the impact of Spain’s culture, history and art” on the career and artistry of Cristóbal Balenciaga (1895-1972).

Portrait of the artist as a young fox

Balenciaga forever changed the way women dressed and introduced dramatically different silhouettes into a woman’s sartorial lexicon. Spanish Master showcases some of the designer’s brilliant, beautiful and very often groundbreaking work in millinery, evening gowns, cocktail dresses and daywear, particularly highlighting his expert construction and tailoring.

Photo: GDK is the new black.

Featuring over 70 pieces from the Balenciaga archives, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, The Hispanic Society of America, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Museum of the City of New York, and the Texas Fashion Collection, the collection also benefited from loans from the private collections of Sandy Schreier and Bowles himself.

Photo: Sandi in the City

The exhibit also ”considers the influences on [Balenciaga's] designs of the country’s great artists, from Zurbarán and Goya to Picasso, Sorolla and Miró, and of Spain’s religious dress and ceremony, its royal history, its rich regional costume, its dance traditions, and the power and splendor of the bullfight. “

Photo: GDK is the new black.

I was in raptures pouring over Spanish Master‘s two floors and was especially surprised by Balenciaga’s continued experimentation and ingenuity well into old age and until his retirement in 1968. One could easily see the rich history from which Nicolas Ghesquière regularly culls and reinterprets through the house’s current collections.

Photos: Blend/Koko Royale

Balenciaga: Spanish Master is an experience that any lover of fashion or art or Spanish history should not miss. The exhibition will be on display at the Queen Sofía Spanish Institute through February 19th and is $15 for adults and $10 for students, seniors, and Institute members.

Queen Sofía Spanish Institute  - 684 Park Ave

Like Cristobal Balenciaga, artist Francesco Vezzoli was inspired by religion for his latest exhibition Sacrilegio. He has reimagined 15th- and 16th-century Madonna and Child paintings by Giovanni Bellini, Leonardo da Vinci, Sandro Botticelli utilizing 80s/90s supermodels including Linda Evangelista, Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Christie Brinkley, Tatjana Patitz, Claudia Schiffer, Stephanie Seymour and Kim Alexis.

Kim Alexis

The exhibit purports to examine “the societal worship of figures from the fashion and celebrity industries” by combining supermodels with historical religious icons.

Cindy Crawford

Vezzoli adorned each painting with “makeup, tattoos and large oblong tears rendered in needlepoint” and the gallery itself has been transformed into a Renaissance chapel. Some of the works also feature an FV with “a needle and thread forming part of the initials.”

Christie Brinkley

The exhibit was interesting and wholly entertaining — I mean, Christie Brinkley crying a giant needlepoint Liza Minnelli tear! I’m surprised I didn’t collapse from the amount of awesome being thrown my way.

Whether you subscribe to the artist’s idea of using these supers to “reflect a reality that has a huge power over our lives” or are just tickled by Naomi Campbell as a holy figure, Sacrilegio is definitely worth seeing. Sacrilegio will be on display at the Gagosian through March 12.

Gagosian Gallery - 522 W 21st St

Portrait of the artist as a young fox

Photo: GDK is the new black.

Photos: Blend/Koko Royale

At an age when many of us can’t even afford a couture gown let alone make one, Maxime Simoëns has joined the official Couture calendar. What’s even more impressive, he’s the first designer to do so without ever having staged a runway.  But before sending out his first painfully constructed garment down the Parisian runway this week, the young couturier shared his inspirations and insights with Style.com.

Your first interest was film. Why did you abandon it for fashion?

Starting from the age of five or six I was totally taken by James Dean, Charlie Chaplin, and Marilyn Monroe. Then I got to film school and found it too technical and scientific—all physics, math, chemistry. I wanted to express myself more concretely; I was thinking less about science and more about the narration of a heroine. Then came Madonna’s “Drowned” World Tour and I took one look at the costumes and silhouettes—and of course the corsets—by Jean Paul Gaultier, and I knew. I went home and started to draw. It totally threw my parents off because after ten years of talking about film I turned around and told them it was going to be fashion.

What happened once you arrived in Paris?

I attended the Chambre Syndicale, and I figured that since Gaultier was my inspiration my first internship should be there. It’s very complicated to get an internship there, so I knocked on all the doors I could, and then I hand-embroidered a letter on a corset that I made out of python and painted. It took my whole summer vacation—the corset, the packaging, everything. Mr. Gaultier never saw it, but his assistants did. It made the rounds in-house and that’s how I got my internship in the accessories department.

You also interned at Christian Dior and Balenciaga. What were the takeaways there?

I was an assistant stylist in the embroidery atelier at Dior. So much happens at the last minute that it was a lesson in working on a tight deadline. As an assistant stylist at Balenciaga I worked on inspirations and embroidery, especially prints. Once, two weeks before the show, we changed everything. It was sort of a liturgical theme, and then it was flowers. Working with Nicolas [Ghesquière] is great because he pushes everything to the limit.

How did the annual fashion and photography festival at Hyères become your launching pad?

Hyères is usually about a concept, but some journalists told me that my mini-collection of seven pieces had commercial potential. We presented at Hyères and found ourselves with orders for 600 pieces, which was enormous. I couldn’t work out of my apartment anymore; we had to really set up a house. Then, unexpectedly, the numbers doubled with the second collection. At the same time, Gossip Girl stylist Eric Daman was scouting for the Paris shoot and he liked the collection. It gave us great exposure, and we [Gossip Girl stars Blake Lively and Leighton Meester] hit it off.

Is that how the couture connection came about?

Didier Grumbach [president of the Fédération Française de la Couture] had encouraged me to participate in Couture week, but I wasn’t sure at first because couture seemed to me a bit old-fashioned. In the end I decided to do it because it wasn’t about aligning with an old image, it was about a new vision of couture. The timing is perfect because ready-to-wear arrives in stores a week later.

What is your take on couture?

For me it’s not about made-to-measure. It’s more about normalized sizing with French creativity and quality. There’s a whole French generation emerging that’s interested in preserving that tradition. Since we took over Lacroix’s old atelier, we have artisanal know-how to back us up and the capacity to deliver quickly. Those two factors make [creating couture] feasible. The idea with our atelier is to support the young coalition and help consolidate the new generation of French couture.

Who are this season’s heroines?

There’s a Sofia Coppola inspiration for both parts of the collection. The first, which I call “Cherry Blossom Girl,” is dedicated to sacrificial heroines like the teenage ones in Virgin Suicides, but with glamour, geometry, and elegance. The second part is called “This, Madame, Is Paris,” which is inspired by Marie Antoinette. For my first Couture show I wanted a theme that was very French, so I chose the absolute icon.

How do you render an icon of excess in neo-minimalist times?

Instead of panniers and frills I worked a lot on fabric, in mille-feuilles and prints. One print is black marble; another is lace transformed into jacquard that is slightly industrial; and another is a pixelated version of a painting the Queen commissioned for the Petit Trianon. Then you get to a heavier jacquard that I created from droplets of blood Photoshopped and reworked in color, thread by thread. But even if her end was somber, we focused on the lighter, iconic side of things—handmade flowers in leather, white gowns embroidered with stones. And there’s a chain theme to invoke the idea of being chained to one’s destiny.

Has Sofia Coppola seen the collection?

No, but she’s invited!

Link Love: Style.com

Spring explodes in a riot of color and pattern.  From floral and leopard to houndstooth and psychedelic, supermodel Natasha Poly wears the prints.  They never wear her.

The love the balance of black and white and colored photographs featured in this spread. The amazing clothing used includes spring 2011 looks by Versace, Christopher Kane, Celine, Jil Sander, Balenciaga by Nicolas Ghesquiere, Miu Miu, Givenchy by Riccardo Tisci, Prada and Giorgio Armani.

LINK LOVE: V Magazine

Absolutely stunning, a total must have, to die for… Nicolas Ghesquière for Balenciaga Fall 2010.

LINK LOVE: Cyana TrendLand

Hedi Slimane, Martin Margiela,  Nicolas Ghesquière,  Hussein Chalayan, and Vivienne Westwood. By Brian Lichtenberg for Blood Is The New Black.  Even more than the people on this shirt and the fabulous one that made it, I’m in love with the fit of this shirt. BITNB is doing the whole ‘boyfriend tee’ thing now and that’s just how I like my clothes. (One size fits most!)

This tee is only $38, a total steal! Buy it here

Balenciaga? Is that you? I never pegged Nicolas Ghesquière as a hoodie and jeans type, but it’s different, so I’ll take it! The Balenciaga Spring 2010 was athletic while retaining it’s shock and awe, classiness. While I’m not terribly crazy about the garments that resemble a child’s canvas, I am in love with the molded leather hooded vests and oh, those heels!

Find more photos like this on CULT

Thanks Style!

Nicolas Ghesquière does it again…tons of leather, amazing prints and patterns mixed with bright colors and fun textures.

Find more photos like this on CULT

SOURCE: Refinery 29′s Twitter

Madonna might do an encore for LV for Fall 09, reuniting with photographer Steven Meisel

Jennifer Connelly might be in Balenciaga’s next campaign, being tapped again by designer Nicolas Ghesquière

Christy Turlington and Spanish male supermodel Andrés Velencoso recently shot the Fall 09 campaing for YSL, with photograhpers Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin

LINKAGE: ohnotheydidnt

R.J. Cutler’s documentary on Anna Wintour and her mad dash to produce the September 2007 issue of Vogue hits Sundance this week. It’s instant nostalgia for the good days of fashion.

“My observation with the creativity in the hallways and offices is that Vogue is like the mist. You don’t think it’s raining and all of a sudden you’re soaking wet,” says Cutler on his experiences.

Designers set to have a major role in the documentary include Thakoon Panichgul, Oscar de la Renta, Patrick Demarchelier, Karl Lagerfeld, Nicolas Ghesquière, Jean Paul Gaultier, Stefano Pilati, Phillip Lim and Isabel Toledo, among others.

LINKAGE: Vogue On Film